Chairs having ganging or bracket devices by means of which chairs can be releasably coupled together in rows are commonly used in classrooms, entertainment and lecture halls, synagogues and churches where temporary additional seating capacity is necessary. In such chairs, the ganging mechanism is provided along opposing side edges of the chair seat so as to enable adjoining chairs to be secured one to the other whereby to prevent inadvertent lateral separation of adjoining chairs during use thereof, especially when an occupant rises from the chair, such ganging mechanisms serve to prevent inadvertent separation of adjacent chairs so that an established row of chairs is maintained.
The ganging of chairs in rows is a matter of concern to fire prevention authorities throughout the country. In the event of fire or other panic-creating occurrence, chairs not so ganged become loose chairs as attendees bolt from the chairs. The chairs become scattered in the room and interfere with orderly exits from the room. People attempting to escape from the room can fall over such scattered chairs in their haste to escape. Ganging of chairs prevents such inadvertent scattering of loose chairs.
A problem encountered with such chairs is economic storage of the chairs in convenient access for ganging them in rows in the room or hall. A known expedient for resolving this problem is to provide such a chair capable of being stacked one upon another in close proximity to the desired floor area of intended use. In other words, the optimum chair of this type would be one which could be ganged into rows for use and stacked one upon another when not in use.
A chair capable of being both ganged and stacked is taught, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,327,984, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,686 in U.S. Pat. No. 3,402,963, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,328,075, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,400,031 and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,168.
A salient feature of this invention is to provide a chair having a combination stacking bar with an integrated ganging mechanism adapted to be secured between the front and rear legs of the chairs, said structure also being esthetically compatible with said chair legs.
Another feature of this invention is that the combination stacking and ganging capabilities are provided in a single integral stacking bar for the chair.